CNN 2008-10-30_在线英语听力室_免费在线英语听力学习网站

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Hello I'm Naamua Delaney at the CNN Center in Atlanta and here's a look of what's happening NOW IN THE NEWS.

The candidates are fighting for battlegrounds with less than a week to go until the General election. At a rally in Miami John McCain kept pushing his economic policy saying he is running to create more wealth while Obama is running to punish the successful. Republican VP pick Sarah Palin is also on the battleground trail in Ohio. The Democratic ticket is bringing big names into their fight for battlegrounds. Former President Bill Clinton speaks today in Pennsylvania. Barack Obama and Joe Bidden also on the trail in swing states like North Carolina and Florida.

The Fed is expected to cut interest rates today. This would be the Fed's second cut this month and could impact lending rates for millions of consumer loans. On October 8th its benchmark rate was lowered to 1.5 percent.

At least 160 people are dead and thousands are homeless after a powerful earthquake shakes southwest Pakistan. The quake measured 6.4 and struck remote villages near the Afghan border. Rescuers are digging for survivors² and expect the death toll³ to rise. One local official says not a single house is intact.

Nebraska's governor is calling a special session of the legislature to change the state's safe haven⁴ law. This move comes as two more teenagers were abandoned at hospitals last night. One a 15-year-old girl left at a hospital, the other a 17-year-old boy left in a Lincoln Hospital. One attorney says 23 kids, 12 of them teens, have been abandoned over the last two months. The special session is expected to begin November 14th.

The former mayor of Detroit is spending the first afternoon of his jail sentence today. A judge sentenced Kwame Kilpatrick to four months yesterday. The Democrat¹ pleaded guilty to lie under oath to keep a secret his affair with the former Chief of Staff. Kilpatrick must also pay the city one million dollars by the end of his five years of probation⁵.

Well those are the headlines this hour. Do stay with CNN for more on these stories and the other news of the day.

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收听单词发音

1 democrat
n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员
参考例句：
The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。 About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 survivors
幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。 survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

3 toll
n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)
参考例句：
The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。 The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 haven
n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所
参考例句：
It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。 The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

5 probation
n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期)
参考例句：
The judge did not jail the young man,but put him on probation for a year.法官没有把那个年轻人关进监狱，而且将他缓刑察看一年。 His salary was raised by 800 yuan after his probation.试用期满以后，他的工资增加了800元。